Funding Opportunities in November

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Neighbourhood Watch Community Grants Fund

About Us: Our focus is to help you kickstart, improve or expand your community work. The Trustees of Neighbourhood Watch Network set aside funds for this scheme.
Criteria: grants are only for registered Neighbourhood Watch members who are representatives of a registered and recognised Neighbourhood Watch scheme, group, Area or Association in England and Wales.
Funding priorities
• Tackling Antisocial Behaviour – Improving the community environment
• Increasing membership of local watches
• Addressing crime through Community Cohesion
• Tackling loneliness in our Neighbourhood Watch communities
Grant Size: Between £100 – £300. Groups can only hold one grant at a time and only hold one grant in each financial year.
Deadline for applications: 14th January 2025

Cash4Clubs Sports Funding

Applications close on Tues 12th November.
Grants of £2,000 are available for community and voluntary sport groups across the UK and Ireland, who are delivering activities for a social purpose to under-represented communities. This programme is exclusively focused on supporting adult clubs as we want to offer funding to groups that deliver activities to over 18s only, with an emphasis on 18–25 year olds. Learn more.

Bracknell Forest Household Support Fund

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
The council will be using funding to support low income households with the rising cost of living, including energy, food and essential bills. The scheme will be enhanced to enable Bracknell Forest residents in financial hardship who would not otherwise automatically qualify for support to apply. If households are eligible, they can apply based on an existing assessment criteria which will include a financial assessment of income and assets, or cost-of-living vouchers for low-income families not eligible for school distributed vouchers.

West Berkshire Council Household Support Fund

The Household Support Fund is there to help people struggling to meet essential housing costs including energy and water bills, food, and wider essentials. There is £695,000 available which includes funding for individuals and families, as well as money set aside to provide free school meals and help for pensioners and young people leaving care.

Winter Wishes Fund

Applications close on Weds 13th November.
This fund is for grants of between £300 – £1,000 for organisations running projects that provide vital support to those most vulnerable in our communities, helping to navigate this time of year. Funding can be used in a variety of ways, from providing the local community with a warm nourishing meal, gifting toys and hampers to families in need and providing shelter to people without a safe place to call home at Christmas.

Improving Homes & Community Spaces

Applications close on Friday 15th November.
One-off grants are available to UK registered charities for projects that improve homes and communities spaces for those who are experiencing homelessness, in financial hardship, impacted by health, disability or other disadvantage or distress. We generally support with funding of up to £10K for building or indoor projects, and up to £5K for garden projects.

Nature Hubs Funding

Applications close on Fri 29th November.
Grants are available for registered organisations across to deliver projects and activities that create or enhance green spaces within 5 kilometres of a Starbucks store. Groups can apply for grants up to £6,000 to set up or enhance community-led green spaces.

Petplan Charitable Trust

Applications close on Mon 9th December.
Grants are available to support animal welfare charities and institutions to promote the health and welfare of animals across the UK. Animal assisted therapy charities will be considered, however there is a requirement to detail the current and long term welfare needs of the
animals.

The Adamson Trust

Applications close on Tues 31st December.
Grants are available for non-profit organisations and charities to help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children, aged 3 to 17 years, with physical, mental, or emotional impairments.

Turners Court Youth Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Grants are available for registered charities and small community groups whose work is focused on the needs of vulnerable and disaffected children and young people up to the age of 23 years in Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire. Projects will be assessed as to the positive difference they will make in the areas of early life experiences, safety, wellbeing, overcoming barrier, work skills, independence and/or crime prevention.

Just Transition Fund

A total of £5 million is available in grants to charities and community energy groups across England, Scotland and Wales to develop renewable energy projects that benefit those most in need. The fund, piloted under the scheme’s Carbon Emissions Reductions priority, aims to build the capacity of the community energy sector and deliver impactful renewable energy projects. It seeks to demonstrate how a just transition to net zero can benefit everyone.
Criteria: Registered organisations, in England, Scotland and Wales, can apply for grant funding to deliver energy related projects that meet the scheme priorities.
Grant Size: The Just Transition Fund will award grants between £20,000 and £250,000 to individual projects.
Deadline for applications: 5pm, 19 November 2024

Material Focus

The Electricals Recycling Fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals.
Criteria:
They fund two types of projects – those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals, and those seeking to innovate new collection methods. Applications from registered organisations only – such as local authorities, waste collection authority areas, contractors, non-profits, community sector organisations, producer compliance schemes, and retailers – not individuals.
Grant Size:
Growing existing services – grants of up to £100,000 for projects that grow existing collection methods for small electricals.
Innovating new methods – grants of up to £50,000 to come up with new approaches to repair, reuse and/or recycle electricals.
Deadline for applications: Rolling basis

The Alec Dickson Trust

The Trust supports volunteering or community service projects organised and run by young people aged 30 and younger.
Criteria: For individuals or small groups of young people to help them put their ideas into action and run projects that benefit the lives of others.
The funding is for projects that:
• Support and encourage youth volunteering, particularly those that involve lots of volunteers, and encourage young people to stay engaged as volunteers in the long term.
• Have a positive impact on disadvantaged communities and individuals. Projects should identify a specific need and how to address this need. There is particular interest in projects that will have a deep and meaningful effect on those it reaches, as well as projects that are as long-lasting and sustainable as possible.
• Are innovative and try to do things differently. This could be addressing a real need for the community or doing something that has not been done before.
Grant Size: Up to £500
Deadline for applications: 13 November 2024

B&Q Foundation

About Us: The B&Q Foundation Grants programme is managed by Neighbourly, a platform used by local Good Causes across the UK and Ireland. Groups will need to create a profile on the Neighbourly platform as part of the B&Q Foundation application process.
Criteria: Grants to registered charities to provide, maintain, repair or improve housing or community space. The projects should benefit people most in need because of homelessness, financial hardship, sickness, disability or other disadvantage.
Grant Size: Up to £5,000 is available for garden projects and up to £10,000 for building or indoor projects.
Deadline for applications: 6pm on 15 November

Music 4 All

Music for All’s next funding round of 2024 is NOW OPEN to applicants!
See their website for full details on our upcoming community funding opportunities.
Please read the eligibility criteria and instructions carefully before applying.
Funding round 4 will close on the 13th of January.

Comic Relief Community Fund

Grants of up to £5,000 are available and offered on a flexible basis, depending on need.

Funding can be used on core organisation costs, direct project related costs or a combination of both that support your organisation to deliver against any of the four areas.

An example of core funding could be a contribution to organisation’s annual budget to continue its good work, funding to expand the work, or to add something new that amplifies results. It could also be allocated for expenses that are harder to fund, such as salaries of senior management or administration, or ongoing costs that are not covered by other grants.

Thank you to Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve and Slough CVS for the information contained in this article.

Funding Opportunities in October

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One Stop Community Partnership Programme

We are extremely proud to be part of the local communities we serve and that’s why we are even more excited to welcome applications for the One Stop Community Partnership programme.
Local Community Groups are able to apply for funding to support their group and to develop an ongoing partnership with your store. Successful applicants will receive an initial grant of up to £1,000 and begin a partnership with their local One Stop store.
This programme is designed to support community groups or organisations operating within two miles of a One Stop store and which are;

  • Tackling food poverty
  • Supporting the vulnerable
  • Supporting the elderly
  • Supporting low-income families
  • Supporting a healthier lifestyle, such as Youth sports teams
    If you have a local community group you would like to support encourage them to apply today!

Once funding has been agreed, alongside a grant of up to £1,000, a long-term tailored programme of support is created for successful applicants by the One Stop Community team and One Stop Store team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store team at their local shop to deliver this programme.
The tailored support from the store teams will help community causes to increase or improve their service by assisting in areas such as, volunteering support & additional fundraising

To be eligible to apply, your organisation or project location address must be within two miles of a One Stop store. Each store is able to create a partnership with one group only. Before you start your application, please use the below Store Locator to check the distance from your local store and whether funding is currently available there.

Deadline: 25th October

Marsh Charitable Trust

The Trust focuses on providing funding which could help small organisations pay for various running costs, such as volunteer expenses, training days, equipment maintenance and other core outgoings.
Our funding strategy is to provide long-term core funding for such costs, as we understand that many of the organisations we support depend on unrestricted income in order to meet their operating needs.
Grants are unrestricted and range from £300-£2,000. Successful new applicants can expect to receive a grant at the lower end of this scale.
Applications are considered on the basis of the organisation’s financial position, performance against charitable aims and objectives and the ratio of voluntary income against fundraising expenses
The Trust aims to build long-standing relationships with successful applicants and, subject to an annual review, continue its support over time.

Applicants must be a registered charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator or the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. This does not include Community Interest Companies (CICs).
Charities must have been established for more than one financial year and able to provide a full set of their most recent Annual Report and Accounts, or the equivalent financial information if their annual income is under £25,000. Deadline: Rolling

Laughology Happiness Grant

Funding is available for grassroots, neighbourhood-based community projects that build happy, strong, resilient communities across the UK.
Small, not-for-profit businesses can apply for funding to set up new groups and activities that improve:
• mental health and wellbeing
• inclusion
• learning and skills development
To be successful, applicants will need to indicate how the activity/group can become self-sustainable or be able to attract funding from other sources for the longer term.
The funding is made available through Laughology’s Happiness Fund, which will make one award of £5,000 twice a year, allowing up to two different projects per year to be supported.

Funding Criteria: Organisations that have received less than £50,000 funding, from any other sources, in the last 12 months.

Deadline: The next closing date for applications is the 4th October 2024.

National Open Garden Scheme: Community Garden Grants

Grants will only be made to bodies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The following bodies are not eligible:
• Local authorities (including parish councils)
• Schools
Applications from any such bodies will not be considered. Applications from groups that were successful in securing a National Garden Scheme Community Garden Grant in the prior year will also not be considered.

Applicants must be a fully set up community group, registered charity or Community Interest Company (CIC) with a functioning non-personal bank account. An application must relate to an existing or proposed community garden or similar site. There must be no query over access to the space (such as restrictions imposed by ownership by another body). Applications from groups that were successful in the prior year will not be considered.

Individual grants are between minimum £1000 and maximum £5000. Each application must itemise the details of the costs they are planning to cover.

Deadline: The 2025 Community Garden Grants scheme is open for applications from Monday 9th September until noon on 28th October 2024. Eligible community garden projects from England, Wales and Northern Ireland are welcome to apply for grants of between £1,000 and £5,000. All applications will be assessed on their merits and the successful groups will be notified in March 2025.

The Naturesave Trust

The environmental charity funded by Naturesave Insurance
The September – October 2024 funding window is now OPEN. The deadline is 12 noon on 31st October 2024.

Our funding focuses on small environmental projects for charities, social enterprises and grassroots community groups whose activities are based within the UK. The theme of this funding window is energy efficiency. We are looking for grant applications up to £5,000 from organisations who are working to promote a more sustainable approach to energy efficiency through insulation, solar panels, lighting initiatives, cooking solutions, new equipment, energy audits, heating projects, workshops, etc. The theme of this funding window is energy.

Our buildings are responsible for contributing 20% of the UK’s total emissions, the majority of which come from heating. In order to reach the Government’s decarbonisation targets, the volume of energy efficiency projects needs to increase from 150,000 installs per year in 2021, to 500,000 in 2025 and one million per year by 2030.

Over 90% of our buildings are heated by fossil fuels, accounting for a third of UK total gas use. Improving energy efficiency can lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other pollutants, as well as decrease water use. It can also lower individual utility bills, create jobs, and help stabilise electricity prices.

The Morrisons Foundation

The Morrisons Foundation supports registered charities making a positive difference in local communities across England, Scotland, and Wales.
Grants are available for up to £10,000 for capital spend or direct project delivery.
The Morrisons Foundation prioritises applications from small charities, those with an income of less than £1m, but applications from larger charities are welcome.
Before submitting an application, please read our Grant Funding Policy in full. If you are still unsure whether your application is what we’re looking for, please get in touch.
Applications should deliver on (at least) one of three objectives to be considered for support, these are:

  1. Tackling poverty and social deprivation;
  2. Enhancing community spaces, facilities and services;
  3. Improving health and wellbeing.

The Toy Trust

Funding from the the Toy Trust helps disadvantaged children and their families to alleviate suffering.

The Trust offer small grants of up to £5,000 to small registered charities to fund equipment and services to support disabled and disadvantaged children under the age of 13 across the UK.
The Trust exists to raise money predominantly from the toy industry, its suppliers and friends and it aims to help disadvantaged children and families to:
• support children through awful experiences
• encourage achievement through adversity
• purchase vital equipment
• provide care
• bolster existing initiatives
• initiate brand new projects
• satisfy basic needs.
Groups that have carried out some form of effective fundraising by themselves are particularly encouraged to apply.
Trustees meet four times a year and state the following application deadlines:
• mid February (for March meeting)
• mid-June (for July meeting)
• mid-August (for September meeting)
• mid-November (for December meeting)

The Beaverbrooks Foundation

One of Beaverbrook’s greatest legacies, the Beaverbrook Foundation was set up under his direction as a grant-making organisation structured to monitor and continue gifts after his death. Funds are distributed to many areas, often focusing on charities and causes that reflect Beaverbrook’s own interests. Over 870 different charitable organisations have received grants over the last 60 years.
• Donations can be made for capital expenditure, i.e. to acquire or upgrade physical assets such as buildings, fixtures and fittings, machinery, furniture and other equipment; for revenue/running costs; and for special projects.
• The trustees will not normally consider grants to cover expenditure that has already been incurred or committed.
• The Trustees promote the concept of match funding, and may make a payment conditional upon the applicant obtaining the remaining funding from other sources.
• The Trustees are able to make grants to all faith organisations, and are not willing to discriminate against any charity due to its focus on race, nationality, sexual orientation or age.
• Grants are made, at the discretion of the Trustees, for charitable purposes including those that would have reflected the interests of the first Lord Beaverbrook.
• We only accept applications for donations from registered charities.
The Beaverbrook Foundation makes grants of up to £5,000 to UK registered charities.

Turners Court Youth Trust

Applications are considered from registered charities and small community groups whose work is based around the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire region and is focused on the needs of vulnerable and disaffected children and young people up to the age of 23.

It should be noted that the Trust can only make grants available for projects or groups that exist for charitable purposes.

Projects will be assessed as to the positive difference they will make to children and young people with regard to one or more of the following:

  • Early life experiences, particularly for those whose personal circumstances are challenging and difficult.
  • Emotional, social and physical safety and/or well-being.
  • Personal safety and protection from harm and neglect.
  • Involvement in activities that help them overcome barriers to education and employment and to achieve their full potential in life.
  • Development of independent life and work skills.
  • Prevention from entering the judicial system.

Ordinarily one-off grants of between £250 and £5,000 are awarded for appropriate projects which can demonstrate that they will make a difference to children and young people. However, depending on the circumstances and subject to approval of Trustees larger grants may be considered.

The Cumber Family Charitable Trust

The Trust was founded in 1985 by a Berkshire farming family; the current trustees are all family members. The specific interests and areas that we support are:
• OVERSEAS. Charitable works in countries in need, in particular projects involving agriculture or empowerment of women.
• ENVIRONMENT. Environment, agriculture and conservation; both locally (Oxfordshire/Berkshire) and further afield in the UK, and developing countries.
• EDUCATION. Educational needs, in particular those involving disadvantaged children and young people, locally (Oxfordshire/Berkshire).
• WELFARE. Welfare and housing, locally (Oxfordshire/Berkshire).
• DISABILITY. Support for the disabled and disease research, locally (Oxfordshire/Berkshire).
We prefer to fund long-term projects with measurable outcomes, and we particularly like to support smaller organisations that may not have a wide reach, and projects that may not necessarily appeal to the general public.
We receive many applications that do not meet our criteria. Please take time to consider whether your project falls into the areas of particular interest as outlined above.
Your charity must have a UK bank account and you must include bank details with your application. In 2023, grants ranged from £1,000-5,000.

Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3

Grants for social housing landlords to improve the energy performance of social homes in England.

Application deadline: 25th November 2024 (midday)


National Lottery Awards for All – England

Grants are available for charities, voluntary groups, schools and local authorities in England to carry out projects that will improve their local community.

Berkshire Community Foundation – Surviving Winter Fund

About Us: With the cost of living crisis a stark reality, we understand that charities and organisations need more help than ever before to keep going through the winter months.
Criteria: For groups to fund their essential resources in order to secure services for their beneficiaries through the winter. Resources such as energy bills, heating costs and increased rent prices will be considered.
Priority will be given to those groups who are supporting the very vulnerable, including:
• Babies
• Children
• Young people
• Elderly people
• Those with disabilities and life limiting illnesses
Grant Size: up to £2,500
Deadline for applications: 10am on 31 October 2024

Home Instead Charity

About Us: Money raised from our dedicated network of Home Instead Offices and external supporters fund groups who support the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing of ageing adults.
Criteria: Grants to support local community events that enhance and enrich the lives of people over the age of 55, to combat loneliness and sometimes isolation ensuring they stay fit, active, healthy and connected and contributing to their local communities.
Grant Size: There are two levels of funding:
• Grants of up to £500 for small grass roots organisations.
• Grants of up to £1,500 for small local registered charities.
Deadline for applications: 31 October 2024

Parkinsons UK – Physical Activity Grants

About Us: Our grant scheme helps fund activity providers to give people with Parkinson’s more opportunities to get and stay active.
Criteria: To fund activity providers giving people with Parkinson’s more opportunities to get and stay active.
Grant Size: up to £3,000
Deadline for applications: Fund will close when it’s all spent.

Binfield Community Grants

Applications close on Sun 27th October.
Binfield Parish Council has a number of funds available to groups, community organisations and projects in the parish. Community grants are given to groups and organisations supporting life in the parish. For this financial year 2024-2025, the fund is £12,500. Find out more information from their most recent grants fund policy, or to apply, complete their form.

Community Fridge Setup Fund

Can you imagine a community fridge in your neighbourhood?
Hubbub with the support of Co-op is excited to launch a new grant fund round for setting up community fridge projects across the UK.

Food waste is a huge problem, but a community fridge can make a difference by sharing surplus food and bringing people together. If you’re passionate about reducing food waste and getting together with your neighbours, we want to help you bring your vision to life!

Tesco Stronger Starts grant

Tesco Stronger Starts is open to charities and community organisation to apply for a grant of up to £1,500.

The programme is open to all schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations, with priority given to projects that provide food and support to young people.

Thank you to Berkshire’s Council for Voluntary Service for the information contained in this article – Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Slough CVS and Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve.

Funding Opportunities in September

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Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust

Applications close on Mon 30th September.
We are committed to awarding grants to those most in need. For this round of funding, we are focusing on projects which provide food education and/or cooking skills. The maximum amount available is £5,000. To be eligible to apply you must be a registered charity with an income and expenditure which meets our requirements and your project must not be on the list of what we don’t fund. Only one application form per charity will be considered.

Christmas Connections Funding

Applications close on Friday 11th October.
Grants of up to £750 are available for small charities and community groups bringing together people over 65 at Christmas. These grants are for organisations connecting older people between 9th December until 2nd January. Priority will be given to organisations working in deprived areas and where activities are taking place over the Christmas holiday period. Please review the grant guidance before applying. Examples of activities funded include the provision of a meal on Christmas Day, group social events, and/or support for day centres providing services over the festive period, etc.

Local Nature Grants

Applications close on Tues 24th October.
This scheme is designed to provide young people with an opportunity to take the lead on projects that involve their local nature and natural spaces, to aid young people in realising their influence to affect positive change, to have their voices heard, and see their ideas come to life. We therefore fund innovative projects that are designed and led by young people in the UK. Adult applicants should develop their proposal alongside young people and the projects should seek to empower local young people to enact changes they want to see, such as increasing access to natural spaces and improving understanding of their local biodiversity. This grant is purposefully broad and welcomes novel ideas, with a maximum award of £1,000 per proposal.

The Naturesave Trust

Applications close Thurs 31st October.
Our funding focuses on small environmental projects for charities, social enterprises and grassroots community groups whose activities are based within the UK. The theme of this funding window is energy efficiency. We are looking for grant applications up to £5,000 from organisations who are working to promote a more sustainable approach to energy efficiency through insulation, solar panels, lighting initiatives, cooking solutions, new equipment, energy audits, heating projects, workshops, etc.

Barchesters Charitable Foundation

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Our funding focus is on connecting or re-connecting people with others in their local community. We support applications that combat loneliness and enable people to be active and engaged. We help small community groups and local charities with activity projects, equipment/materials for use by members, member transport, and/or day trips, outings, activities/group holidays in the UK. Our grants for groups range from £100 up to £2,000.

The Earley Charity – Capital Projects Programme

30 September 2024. The Earley Charity’s Capital Projects Programme has reopened for a second round of funding. By Capital we mean bricks and mortar such as new builds, extensions and large-scale refurbishments. The programme has a budget of £105,000 and is open to local organisations that work in or predominately serve the Earley Charity’s area of benefit. The Trustees intend to support several projects through the programme and are happy to accept bids for either full or part funding. They are particularly interested to hear from organisations that have not received funding from the Earley Charity before.

Eligibility criteria: In the first instance Trustees are seeking Expressions of Interest from local organisations that have well-developed plans for a distinctive capital project which may be supported through this programme.

To be eligible you must be able to demonstrate the following:

  • your organisation works in or predominantly serves the Earley Charity’s area of benefit*;
  • you have confirmed planning permissions in place;
  • your project is due to start and/or complete between now and the end of 2025.

Area of Benefit: In practice, this means all of Earley (Lower Earley and “old Earley”), the northern part of Shinfield, Winnersh, south Reading (including Whitley), east Reading (including Newtown), central Reading (as far west as the Reading West railway line), Sonning and lower Caversham. Please see our website for a detailed map http://www.earleycharity.org.uk/Map.aspx

The Wakeham Trust

We usually make VERY SMALL grants to VERY SMALL projects. We don’t have formal grant criteria, but we are normally looking for leverage (in the sense that we make small contributions to projects nobody else will touch, in the hope that they can sometimes turn into something big).

So about 50 years ago we started backing pregnancy advisory services, women’s shelters and rape crisis centres, because they were new and unpopular with other funders (indeed, we had a run-in with the Charity Commission at that stage, which did not like pregnancy advisory services); now, we seldom back them, because they have become mainstream. If things are new in a particular area then they can still meet our criteria – a lot of community action is intensely local, and the fact that something has been done elsewhere does not mean it is well-established in the places that apply to us.


Some projects that were mainstream back then have become unpopular with big funders right now – often because they can’t tick the right number of boxes (in terms of criteria like diversity and or impact statements). These criteria can make sense when evaluating big organisations, but they can be impossible for small ones to meet. So we also try to fill that gap.
Our original objective when the Trust was set ups to help projects that encourage Community Service by young people to their own neighbourhoods (along the lines pioneered by Dr Alec Dickson, who founded Community Service Volunteers).

In 2023 we are still supporting many of the same sorts of micro-scale community projects, though we have added education (in its broadest sense) to our list of priorities. Our core goal is to help small groups of people who are getting together to make a difference for others. We don’t support self-help groups, however useful they are to their members.
Where we do make quite large grants, mostly in the field of education, we usually seek to get match-funding from other organisations, so that our grants can release much bigger funding streams than we could provide by ourselves. Our goal when we support education projects is to support excellence in teaching – at all levels, from universities to primary schools. We focus on things that can give students a broader experience – getting away from the examination treadmill.

We normally give grants to projects where an initial £125 to £2,500 can make a real difference. In general, we look at what it is costing per-head to reach the people the project is helping.

W.G. Edwards Charitable Foundation

Registered charities, from large institutions to small community-run organisations, providing care for older people (65+ years) in the UK. Capital projects, refurbishment and for equipment, in addition to innovative schemes for ongoing care and projects, such as IT for the elderly, fitness classes, lunch clubs, gardening projects, etc. Grants £1000 to £3000. Deadlines 10 Mar, 10 Jun, 10 Sep and 10 Dec. Spend in year ending Apr 23 was £130k.

Awards for All

About Us: The National Lottery Awards for All England programme supports amazing community-led projects.
Criteria: They can fund projects that’ll do at least one of these things:
• bring people together to build strong relationships in and across communities
• improve the places and spaces that matter to communities
• help more people to reach their potential, by supporting them at the earliest possible stage
• support people, communities and organisations facing more demands and challenges because of the cost-of-living crisis.
Grant Size: £300 to £20,000, for up to two years
Deadline for applications: Ongoing. Apply at least 16 weeks before you want to start the activities or spend any of the money.

Thank you to Volunteer Centre West Berkshire, Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve, Slough CVS & Reading Voluntary Action for the information contained in this article.

Funding Opportunities in July

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Lloyds Bank Foundation – Deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations

This programme is for small and local charities and CICs with an income between £25,000 to £500,000 that are led by and working with Deaf and Disabled people who are experiencing poverty. Organisations can apply for a three-year unrestricted grant of £75,000.We support a wide and diverse range of health charities. In partnership with our grant holders, we contribute to lasting positive change in our society.
This programme is aimed at registered charities and CICs which are led by and working for Deaf and Disabled people. Your organisation will work directly with Deaf and Disabled people over the long term to support them to have more choice and control over their lives, access their rights and entitlements and challenge the barriers they face.

Your work will be based on a social model of disability and you will be able to show how this understanding shapes the work that you do, and enables people to have their voices heard.

Successful applicants will receive a grant of £75,000, over three years (£25,000 per year). The grant will be unrestricted, so organisations awarded funding will be able to use the grant to support any costs that further your organisation’s social purpose.

Deadline: The deadline for applications is 5pm on Wednesday, 28 August 2024.

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grant making for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Using a wide range of research including insight from Motability Foundation grantees, other disabled people and representative organisations, community transport has been identified as a priority area for support.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

To help address this problem now, charities and organisations working in the Community Transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million at any point before March 2025 to improve the impact of community transport for disabled people.

Deadline: March 2025.

Money Saving Expert (MSE) Charity

About Us: The MSE Charity gives grants to UK not for profit organisations that deliver activities which make a lasting impact on how people think, behave and manage their money.
Criteria: UK not for profit organisations
Grant Size: up to £10,000
Deadline for applications: A new two-stage application process is being introduced with outline proposals accepted from 19 June up to 31 July 2024, or sooner depending on the number of proposals received.

Warm Spaces in Slough

If you run a Warm Space in Slough, where people are welcome to come for a chat and a cuppa, you may be able to get new supplies. SSE has donated £500 for items such as tea bags, coffee, sugar, biscuits, squash and hot chocolate for visitors to enjoy.

Those in charge of operating a Warm Space can contact Mark Clements at office@communitycafe.uk to request items and he can also supply Warm Space posters if needed for display purposes.

The Screwfix Foundation

Grants are available to UK-registered charities and not-for-profit organisations for projects that improve, fix, and repair buildings, homes and facilities specifically used by people in need across the UK.

Matthew Good Foundation – Grants for Good Fund

A small number of grants are available for local community groups, charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises in the UK for projects that have a positive impact on communities, people, or the environment.

Application deadline: 15th September 2024

2024 Platinum Jubilee Village Halls Fund (Main Grants)

Capital grants are available for village halls in rural areas across England to enhance, upgrade, extend, improve, and construct halls so that, as a result, new activities can take place bringing communities together.

Application deadline: N/A

Sport England – Movement Fund (with crowdfunding)

Grants are available for formally constituted not-for-profit organisations in England who can raise their initial funding through a crowdfunding campaign for projects that improve physical activity for people and communities who need it most with particular interest in opportunities for groups facing barriers to activity.

Application deadline: N/A

The True Colours Trust

The True Colours Trust provides grants to help support families, children and young people in the UK with complex disabilities and/or life-limiting and life-threatening conditions. The Trust seeks to bring about better lives for children and their families through a broad mix of research, advocacy, service delivery and innovation.

Their grant-making is focused on the following areas:

Improving service delivery and support offered to children with complex disabilities, their families and siblings in the UK.
Strengthening palliative care services for children and their families in the UK.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development / job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience / sustainability.

The Archer Trust

Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
We are a UK charitable grant-making trust based on Christian values, which give funding to a small UK charities. If your organisation, in one way or another, provides aid or support to a defined group of disadvantaged or marginalised people, and if a grant of between £1,000 and £5,000 will make a big difference to support your work, you may meet our funding criteria. We prefer to support organisations working in areas of high unemployment and deprivation and we favour charities which make good use of volunteers. Find out more and how to apply.

Music & Heritage Funding

Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Funding is available for UK charities, not-for-profit and exempt organisations working in the areas of music, especially chamber music, composition and music education, or in heritage and crafts. The application form will request information about your organisation, the project and your finances, so please ensure that you have gathered this information in sufficient time to submit the application before the deadline.

Baily Thomas Charitable Fund

Applications close on Thursday 1st August.
Grants are available to voluntary organisations, charities and schools in the UK to assist with the care and relief of children, young people and adults with learning disabilities. We also support those undertaking research into learning disability. We offer small grants below £9000 and general grants above this.


Electricals Recycling Fund

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
This fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. We fund two types of projects; those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals (up to £100,000), and those seeking to innovate new collection methods (up to £50,000). If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding.

West Berkshire Veolia’s Sustainability Fund

is back this year offering up to £1,000 worth of funding to help support people across West Berkshire to improve the environment!
Veolia’s Sustainability Fund will support inspirational ideas that aim to make a positive change towards their local communities.
The purpose of the fund is to support non-profit organisations, community groups or individuals that help transform their local community through enhancing biodiversity, promoting sustainable waste behaviours, protecting or preserving resources and the environment, or using recycled, reused or reclaimed materials.
If you have an idea to help improve your local community, apply before 30 September. Find out how you can bring your ideas to life by clicking on the title above.

Newly Opened: Morrisons Foundation – Community Spaces Fund

In celebration of Morrisons 125th Anniversary, the Foundation is delighted to have created the ‘Community Spaces Fund’.

This exciting new fund will see 125 charities receive a share of £1 million with grants of up to £8,000 each to enhance their community space facilities, making a difference for many more years to come.

We know how important it is for communities to have a place to meet, socialise, learn and provide care to others. We also know that funding new equipment, making renovations or creating new spaces can be difficult for local charities.

That’s why we’ve created this new fund and are asking Community Champions in all of our stores to look for opportunities to help charities who provide a community space and will be able to make a real difference with a cash boost of from the Morrisons Foundation.
1. From 17th June to 14th July, Morrisons Community Champions will identify charities that provide a community space that benefits their local area
2. Recommended charities will receive an invite from their Community Champion to complete an online form which must be completed no later than 14th July 2024. The form is for recommendation purposes only and does not guarantee that a grant can or will be awarded
3. Recommendations are verified and reviewed by the Morrisons Foundation from 15th to 31st July 2024
4. Throughout August 2024, together, Morrisons colleagues, Community Champions and the Morrisons Foundation will choose up to 125 charities to receive a grant
5. Successful charities will be notified via email. At this point charities should provide a recent bank statement and letter to confirm the bank details via email to the Morrisons Foundation within 14 days to enable payment by BACS
6. A presentation of the grant will take place at the Morrisons store/site that recommended the successful charity
To be considered, organisations must:
– Be recommended by their local Community Champion
– Be registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales (CCEW) or the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator in Scotland (OSCR)
– Have submitted their accounts on time to the CCEW or OSCR within the past three years
– Be applying for a grant of no more than £8,000 to fund a project which enhances a space that will have a lasting impact in the local community
– Submit the online recommendation form provided by their local Community Champion by 14th July 2024
– Be applying for a project that will be completed by the end of 2024

Deadline: 14th July

Abri Community Fund

We believe the best ideas often come from the people who know and live in our communities. And we’re committed to supporting and investing in our communities. Which is why we have a £90,000 Community Fund available to help make your community a better place to live.
You can apply for up to £3,000 to support a project in one of our communities across the south of England (find out more about where we operate here). The rising cost of living is having a big impact on our customers and communities, so we will be prioritising applications that consider the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Although we are keen to support projects that help everyone in the community, it’s important for applicants to demonstrate how you’ll specifically be able to support customers living in Abri homes.
We recommend you submit your application as early as possible along with all the supporting documents.
Applications will be considered by our funding panel, which is made up of customers and those living in our communities. And we’ll share whether you’ve been successful within four weeks of the window closing. For successful applicants we will aim to make payment eight weeks after the window closes, subject to all supporting documentation being received and due diligence checks being completed.

Community Funding (abri.co.uk)

Deadline: Opening1st-21st July

Leeds Building Society Foundation

About Us: Our focus is to support those in need of a safe and secure home.
Criteria: Grants are only for capital expenditure. Grants to registered charities with a turnover of less than £1 million for projects which address one or more of the following themes:
• Financial stress – projects that help with bills or debt stress.
• Security and refuge – projects that support emergency accommodation.
• Quality and suitability of housing.
• Health and wellbeing support for those experiencing homelessness.
Grant Size: Between £250 and £1,000
Deadline for applications: 9 September 2024

Greenham Trust’s Planting Programme 2024

Local schools, councils, charities and community organisations are invited to apply for free trees and hedging plants for planting in the autumn.

Applications are now open for Greenham Trust’s Planting Project, and will close on 31st July 2024.

Click below for full details of the project and how to apply.

Activity for All

Grants of £1,000 are available to help children stay healthy and active this summer.

Applicants must be a sports or holiday club with a priority on supporting children with access to physical activity, providing more equipment and opportunities and/or providing healthy, nutritious food to keep active.

Tesco Stronger Starts

If you are a school, registered charity or not-for-profit organisation, you can apply for up to £1,500 to fund projects that provide food and support to young people across the UK.

Every three months, three local good causes are selected to be in the blue token customer vote in Tesco stores throughout the UK.

Thank you to Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve, West Berkshire Volunteer Centre and Slough CVS for the information contained in this article.

Funding News for June 2024

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SPACE Arts and cultural organisations based in England, including museums, libraries, community organisations and local councils with a cultural project, can now apply for a digital commission of up to £15,000 (£8,000 for audio projects). Commissions are for you to develop and deliver a creative digital project. This might be a video or audio project, or an interactive or immersive experience. Deadline 5pm, 13 Jun. Please click here for more details.

Cycling UK – Big Bike Revival Grants Programme Grants are available for voluntary groups, social enterprises, and other not-for-profit organisations to deliver cycling projects and activities across England (outside of London) for people who do not normally cycle.
Application deadline: 25 June 2024. Click here for more details.

Village Hall Small Grants Fund
Grants of between £2,000 and £5,000 to help make improvements to rural community buildings in England. This is the latest release of the £3 million grant fund announced by the government in May 2022 in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.

Grants are intended to support smaller capital projects in village halls such as boiler replacements, insulation, toilet upgrades and new kitchens.

Awards can be made to cover 20% of eligible project costs, up to a maximum amount of £5,000. The balance of funding for the works proposed must be in place, or at least confirmed within 6 weeks of making an application to a small grants fund.

Please read the fund criteria and FAQs before submitting your application. We recommend you only submit this once the project is ready to proceed, and you have everything in place.
Village halls small grants fund – ACRE

Deadline: The fund is expected to stay open until December 2024, however, it may be withdrawn before this.

Hubbub and Starbuck’s ‘Eat it Up Fund’

About Us: We’ve launched the Eat It Up Grant Fund 2024 to fuel innovations that reduce edible food waste, ensuring food serves its purpose – to be eaten.
Criteria: To support innovative ideas to tackle food waste in the UK. The grant must be used within a year. The funding is for initiatives that do one or more of the following:
• Address pre-farmgate waste (the food production process, up to the point where the products have been harvested and prepared as produce for sale).
• Prevent food from being wasted at the manufacturing and processing stage.
• Minimise food waste from retailers.
• Find creative ways to use surplus food in communities or at home.
Grant Size: Six grants of £60,000
Deadline for applications: 5pm on 14 June 2024

Wolfson Foundation

About Us: The Foundation gives major grants for capital work across the fields of education, science and medicine, health and disability, heritage and arts and humanities.
Criteria: The project should be for a new building, refurbishment work or equipment that leads to at least one of the following aims:
• Increased access to services for new and existing users.
• Improved quality and range of services.
• Improved financial stability of the organisation.
Grant Size: £15,000 up to £1million. Match funding is required for projects where the total project cost is above £50,000.
Deadline for applications: 23.59 on 1 July 2024

Clarion Futures Digital Grants Programme

About Us: Clarion Futures delivers a range of grant programmes which support those working to improve the lives of our residents, as well as helping them stay more digitally connected.
Criteria: For not-for-profit organisations seeking to deliver innovative, well-designed projects that support Clarion residents and the wider community to address digital exclusion.
The funding is for projects and activities that focus on:
• Supporting Clarion residents to discover the full scope of how the internet can assist them in their everyday lives, and provide them with the skills and confidence to do so.
• Supporting residents to access the digital resources that meet their individual needs and circumstances.
• Building digital skills and confidence for all.
• Encouraging residents to use the internet with confidence so they are safe and avoid risky and/or illegal behaviour.

Grant Size: Between £1,000 and £5,000
Deadline for applications: noon on 12 June 2024

Arnold Clark Community Fund

About Us: As part of our commitment to give back to the communities in which we operate, we believe that by caring for these communities today, we can help them create a better future.
Criteria:
• Cost of Living Support – funding to any registered UK charity or community group whose work directly supports those most affected by the cost-of-living crisis, such as foodbanks, accommodation, poverty relief and where people/communities in the UK are the primary and immediate focus of investment.
• Our Communities Support – funding to projects embedded in the communities in which Arnold Clark operates and is available to organisations who provide services widely accessible to those within Arnold Clark local communities, addressing the needs of those living within them.
• Gear Up for Sport – 150 sports kits given away each month to support youth sports teams across the UK. Any youth team with up to 30 members aged 4 to 15 years can apply.
Applications are expected to be accepted until the e
Grant Size: up to £2,500
Deadline for applications: End of December 2024

Bright Futures Fund
Wokingham Borough Council has awarded Wokingham United Charities funding to
oversee their extracurricular activities initiative. The Bright Futures Fund is dedicated to supporting children from low-income households providing opportunities to engage in a diverse range of extracurricular activities, including school trips, club memberships, purchasing or hiring of equipment and instruments, and covering participation fees for children and young people. Applications are welcomed from schools, alternative educational providers, youth groups, sports clubs, activity clubs, and relevant local charities. To ensure a streamlined process, applications are exclusively accepted from referring agencies. Online applications
can be submitted via our website.

Regenerative Soil Funding
Applications close on Thurs 27th June.
UK soils currently store about 10 billion tonnes of carbon, roughly equal to 80 years of annual UK greenhouse gas emissions. The priority must be to stop further soil degradation and
keep that carbon in the soil. But intensive agriculture has caused arable soils to lose about 40 to 60% of their organic carbon to the atmosphere. Investing in regenerative soil initiatives is one way to help combat this. We are looking for grant applications from charities, community groups, and organisations that are working to promote a more sustainable approach to soil and land management.

Architectural Heritage Fund Project Development Grants
Applications close on Weds 31st July.
Grants are available for UK not-for-profit organisations to cover some of the costs of developing and coordinating a building project and taking it towards the start of work on site. As the Architectural Heritage Fund, there has to be a historic building involved in whatever we support. We generally look to support projects where there is a change of use or change of ownership involved with the building, such as bringing something disused back into use.

Arts & Culture Project Grants
Applications accepted on a rolling basis.
This is our open access programme for arts, libraries and museums projects. The fund supports thousands of individual practitioners, and community and cultural organisations. Applications are for grants between £1,000 and £100,000, should engage people in England with arts and culture. You can learn whether this is the right fund
for you by taking our quiz.

Matthew Good Foundation
Applications close on Saturday 15th June.
Our Grants for Good are designed to direct funding only to small and growing local charities, voluntary groups or social enterprises that are making a big impact on local communities or the environment. To be eligible, applicants must have an average income of less than £50,000 in the last 12 months. Every three months, five organisations will receive grants between £5,000 to £2,000.

AB Charitable Trust

About Us: The A B Charitable Trust is an independent grant-making organisation, founded in 1990 by Yves and Anne Bonavero to champion human dignity and support the most marginalised and excluded groups in the UK. The Trust has no endowment and is funded annually by the Bonavero family.
Criteria: This programme aims to support and strengthen small to medium-sized charities, and the wider ‘eco-system’, in our priority areas. We usually fund single-focus organisations working solely in our priority areas. For these organisations, we generally give unrestricted grants.
Grant Size: up to £30,000
Deadline for applications: 26 July 2024

The Adamson Trust

About Us: The Adamson Trust is a long-established Perthshire charity based in Crieff.
We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. We can only give help for this purpose.
Criteria: We can give financial help with the cost of holidays or respite breaks for disabled children aged between 3 and 17 with physical, mental or emotional impairments. Individual families can apply but we also accept applications on behalf of voluntary and community groups working on behalf of groups of children and families.
Grant Size: Not stated
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024

The Ford Britain Trust

About Us: Working with our local communities to sow the seeds of change. We are committed to supporting the communities that we work and live in. That is why we created the Ford Britain Trust. Since April 1975 we have been able to help fund the education and advancement of our neighbours.
Criteria: We pay special attention to projects focusing on education, environment, children, the disabled, youth activities and projects that provide clear benefits to the local communities close to our UK locations.
Grant Size: Small grants up to £250 or larger grants up to £3000
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2024 (small grants); 31 July 2024 (larger grants)

Motability Community Transport Grants

We launched this grant programme in April 2022, which aims to help charities and organisations to make an immediate impact for disabled people, by awarding funding to develop, expand and improve community transport options. We are focussing our grantmaking for this programme on:
• Funding support for staff or volunteer training and costs.
• Funding to increase the number of vehicles available in the community to help organisations support disabled people.
• Funding local, regional, or national initiatives to increase awareness of community transport and influence its inclusion in transport strategy and policy.
• Funding to schemes, programmes and initiatives that already exist, and which provide best practice solutions, but need further support to remain operational or scale up the service they can provide to help more disabled people.
If any of the above are relevant to your charity or organisation, please take some time to read this information and review the documents included within our guidance for applicants.

Using a wide range of research including insight from Motability Foundation grantees, other disabled people and representative organisations, community transport has been identified as a priority area for support.

Disabled people make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people every year – a figure that has not changed in a decade.

To help address this problem now, charities and organisations working in the Community Transport sector can apply for grants from £100,000 to £4 million at any point before March 2025 to improve the impact of community transport for disabled people.

The Britford Bridge Trust

The Trust was established by Adrian and Jane Frost in 2014 to formalise their long-standing charitable support. It is intended to be a permanent endowment to enable giving beyond the current generation. To date, the Trust has made more than 200 grants to a wide range of beneficiaries.
The primary charitable purposes of the Trust are the prevention or relief of poverty; the advancement of education; the advancement of health or the saving of lives; and the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage, or science however any applicant must have national relevance.
The trustees have already fully committed to supporting the fields of medicine and related professions connected to the causes, diagnosis, treatment and care of cancer and other malignant diseases and will not be accepting applications for funding in that regard. Similarly, the family donates to African causes through established NGOs. As a result, the Trustees regret that they will not consider applications from these areas of need.

In addition, the Trustees will give due consideration to the amount of any donation that reaches the intended beneficiary and to the existing reserves and resources of the applicant.
The Trustees typically make grants of between £10,000 to £50,000. Larger amounts may be available in exceptional circumstances. Applications are invited from UK registered charities for national or international projects.

One Stop – Community Partnerships Programme

We are extremely proud to be part of the local communities we serve, and that’s why we are even more excited to welcome applications for the One Stop Community Partnership programme.
Local Community Groups can apply for funding to support the group and to develop a new or ongoing project in partnership with their local store. Successful applicants will receive an initial grant of up to £1,000, and begin a partnership with their local One Stop store.
This programme is designed to support community groups or organisations operating within two miles of a One Stop store which are;

  • Tackling food poverty
  • Supporting the vulnerable
  • Supporting the elderly
  • Supporting low-income families
  • Supporting local sports teams
  • Improving the local environment
  • Reducing Waste in the community

The programme provides partnership as well as financial assistance. Alongside a grant of up to £1,000, and the opportunity to create a long-term tailored programme of support for successful applicants with their local One Stop Store Team. Grant recipients then work in partnership with the One Stop Store Team at their local shop to deliver support to the community.
The tailored support from the store teams will help community causes to increase or improve their service by assisting in areas such as but not limited to; volunteering support, fundraising and awareness-raising.

National Lottery Heritage Grants

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Heritage can be anything from the past that you value and want to pass on to future generations. We fund projects that connect people and communities to the national, regional and local heritage of the UK. Grants between £10,000 to £250,000 are available for non-profit organisations looking to care for and sustain heritage with projects which will run for no more than five years. Our priorities are promoting inclusion, boosting local economies, encouraging
skills development/job creation, supporting wellbeing, creating better places to live, work and visit, and/or improving heritage organisation’s resilience/sustainability.

Pets Assisting People Grants

Applications close on Friday 28th June.
Funding is available to charities that help children and adults through the provision of specially trained assistance animals, or through the provision of structured animal-assisted learning and therapy. We provide one-off grants or up to three years of funding, to a maximum of £80,000 per year. These funds can contribute towards the costs of animal care, building work, salaries, activities, equipment, vehicles, etc.

Helens Farm Goodness Grants

Applications close on Sunday 30th June.
A small number of grants, up to £5,000 are available for not-for-profit organisations and registered charities to support projects which are doing good in their local communities. These projects might be based around sports, schools, clubs, wellness or tackle social issues. We are offering grants specifically to local organisations which improve the health, places or skills of families in their communities.

Electricals Recycling Fund

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
This fund aims to grow existing methods or test new creative and practical ones for recycling small household electricals. We fund two types of projects; those seeking to grow or develop existing household collection services for small household electricals (up to £100,000), and those seeking to innovate new collection methods (up to £50,000). If you have a project that would make it easier for the public to repair, reuse or recycle their electricals, apply for funding.

Thank you to Berkshire CVS organisation for the information contained in the article, namely; Wokingham & Bracknell InVOLve, Slough CVS and West Berkshire Volunteer Centre.